Torn but Mended
by IrethAnwarunya
Summary: Because sometimes the villain can change and an unexpected life can be accepted. Rating is strictly to be on the safe side. More complete summary inside, but takes places during the events of the season TORN.
1. Chapter One

Torn, But Mended 

Because sometimes the villain can change and an unexpected life can be accepted.

_A/N: This story takes places during the season Torn when Rafe and Livvie were married and begins right after Livvie set the fire at the grain silo. Frank died in the blaze and the Avatar moved on to another host somewhere else. Kevin never found Livvie's medical records, so no one knows the truth about Livvie's child but Livvie. For all of those who enjoy the RafeAlison stories, I'm sorry, but this isn't one of them. I always had a soft spot in my heart for Livvie and I liked the show better when she was with Rafe than when she was with Caleb, despite all of her lies & manipulations. I own no characters from Port Charles, but Ayden and other characters are mine. One-shot fan fiction. Enjoy. – IrethAnwarunya_

This wasn't the life he had dreamed of. This wasn't where he thought he would be. To be honest, no one would have guessed this would be the life that Rafe Kovich would be living. Not long after the fire that destroyed the Avatar, Rafe finally broke down and took Livvie away from Port Charles like she had been wanting. They now lived peacefully in a cozy little house out in the country. Rafe had opened a fitness center in the middle of town and they were prospering quite well. Three years earlier, Livvie had given birth to a beautiful dark-haired little girl that they named Ayden Mariah Kovich. She was a regular little gypsy child. Her black curls escaped their restrictive ties and wound up a tangled mess, her eyes were a honey brown, and her sun kissed skin donned an olive tan from hours of unworried play. Rafe was amazed at how much he loved and adored that little girl. No other female had ever captured his heart like Ayden had. Except for Alison. He never thought about Alison anymore, not since he and Livvie had left Port Charles. He had heard nothing from her in three years and wryly thought that they had finally gotten the hang of not running into each other. Oh, well. That was the past and he had a future to think of.

Rafe's eyes looked up from the paperwork in his hands and scanned the top of his desk. He looked at the photo of Ayden and Livvie playing in the autumn leaves and of the picture of himself and Livvie at the ceremony when they renewed their vows last year, but he stopped and smiled at another photograph, which he took in his hands. The black and white picture was somewhat confusing if one did not know what to look for, but Rafe's eyes had stared at it many times over the past few months and the image was clear to him.

The sonogram showed a healthy little boy that Rafe was overjoyed to meet. He gazed at the photograph of his son with awe. He felt guilty that he had not been as involved with Livvie's pregnancy with Ayden, but there had been so many things happening at the time. The business with the Avatar, Lucy's attempts at getting him together with Alison, the stress of living in Port Charles, and then the hassle of moving and establishing a business had been somewhat time consuming and Rafe regretted it. What he regretted even more was missing Ayden's birth, but he was more than making up for it with his and Livvie's son.

"What are you doing?" said a sultry voice from the doorway. Rafe looked up from the frame in his hands and saw his wife standing at the threshold, her hands enclosing her swollen stomach. He rose from his desk chair and strode toward her.

"Just thinking," was the reply after he had gently kissed her forehead. "What are you doing here so late?" he questioned.

"I was just coming to see how much longer you were going to be. I called, but the guy at the front said that you were busy and wouldn't put me through," Livvie told him, taking his hand in hers.

"Where's Ayden?"

"She's at home. I didn't want to have to wake her up to get her in the car, so Mrs. Young from next door is staying with her until I get back,"

"How are you feeling?" Rafe asked Livvie as he led her to his chair.

"Tired. It's hard to keep up with a three year old when you're eight months pregnant," she said. "Will you be coming home soon?"

"Yeah. Just give me a few minutes to finish up here and I'll be home. I'm trying to get things in order before the baby comes. I don't want to have to worry about anything but you and our family," said Rafe.

Livvie awkwardly rose from the swiveling chair with Rafe's strong, steady arm to support her. She placed a tender kiss on his lips and after telling him that she would be waiting up for him when he got back, she left his office.

Once she was gone, Rafe filed the remainder of the paperwork on his desk and began closing things up at the front of the gym. He quickly rearranged a set of weights and organized a few disorderly exercise mats before heading toward the door. His hand poised at the light switch, Rafe looked around his fitness center. This was certainly the last place one would expect an ex-vampire slayer to be. Rafe had once lived in a way that kept his life in danger at nearly every moment. He had loved the thrill and excitement, but he gave all of it up for a life he had always wanted: a home and family. He told himself that being a slayer did not make his life complete, that the excitement did not make him whole, and then he turned off all the fluorescent lights and locked the glass doors behind him.

As he drove down the darkened empty streets of town to the darker roads of the country, Rafe's thoughts again wandered to his former life. An even bigger shock that was probably the hardest for everyone to come to terms with was his marriage to Livvie. No one had expected them to stay married, least of all Rafe. Many times he had contemplated leaving her for Alison had it not been for the baby, but something changed in him. Something had changed the night of the fire. Rafe thought back to his conversation with Livvie's father, Kevin, as they had fought outside the burning silo.

"_I know how wonderful and loving Livvie's been to me and I know that she believes in me and trusts that I'm going to be there to take care of her,"_

"_It's a simple question Rafe. A question that any newlywed, any man whose wife is carrying his child would be able to answer." Kevin pursued. _

"_I have tried to tell you!" Rafe exclaimed. Why couldn't Kevin just understand?_

"_Your answer's poetic but it doesn't fly!" Kevin yelled back._

"_I made a promise and I'm going to keep it. Okay?" Rafe said, trying to put an end to the talk. _

"_My daughter deserves to be loved. She needs stability Rafe, she craves it." Kevin replied._

"_If you can't give her your whole heart Rafe then let her go!" Kevin had pleaded. He confessed his worries about Livvie's mental state, but Rafe quickly silenced him. _

"_Whether I have your approval or not, I am Livvie's husband and I am going to take care of her. So that's what I'm going to do right now. I'm going to go take my wife home," Rafe told his father-in-law and stormed away. _

As Rafe pulled into the driveway of his home, another moment from that night flashed into his mind. He vividly remembered he and Livvie standing before the smoldering silo as the sun began to rise on the horizon. He remembered holding her tightly in his arms as she had cried against his shoulder.

"_I am so sorry that this happened," Livvie had choked out between sobs._

_He took her tearstained face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "It's my fault. I got careless," he told her._

"_It's just that I love you so much and I would fall apart if I ever lost you," she said, running her hand through his sandy blonde locks._

"_You know what? It's not gonna happen," he assured her, taking her tiny hands in his. Then, with Kevin's words fresh in his mind he said," Because you are my wife and we've made a life together and we're making a life together and I, um, I love you."_

That had been the first time Rafe had ever told Livvie that he loved her. He remembered the joy in her eyes when he had said those words. In all honesty, he had not really meant them, but figured that it couldn't hurt to say them since Livvie had done so much for him. Now, as he silently padded through the quiet house, he realized how much he had grown to love her over time. Before heading to his bedroom, Rafe opened Ayden's door. He tiptoed to her tiny little bed and knelt down in the floor beside her. He gently caressed her unruly curls and bestowed a careful kiss on her delicate cheek. He rose from the thick carpet and after stopping once more to admire her in her slumbering state Rafe silently closed the door behind him.

When he approached his own door, Rafe saw Livvie asleep, basked in the gentle light of the bedside lamp with a pregnancy book resting on her distended abdomen. Rafe quickly disrobed down to his boxers and climbed beneath the soft cotton sheets. He removed the book from Livvie's stomach and as he reached for the light, Livvie stirred and opened her eyes.

"I thought you were going to stay awake until I got home," he gently chided her. She smiled but did not reply and Rafe kissed her gently. He then clicked off the light and burrowed further down into the blankets.

"How is he doing tonight?" Rafe asked, placing his hand on Livvie's stomach. He felt his son dancing beneath her skin and was once again amazed. Pride welled up inside of him and he felt an uncontrollable desire to meet this tiny stranger.

"He's been restless till now. I think he was waiting for you to come home. He's definitely going to be daddy's boy," Livvie replied, placing her own hand on top of Rafe's. "You're stealing both our children's hearts."

"What can I say?" he said with a sexy smile, "I just have a natural charm about me. Everyone finds it irresistible."

Livvie playfully shoved him away but he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. "Get some sleep," she ordered him, "Your charm won't be effective if you're a bear in the morning."

Rafe lightly chuckled and again kissed his wife before nestling into bed. In a matter of moments, Rafe Kovich was sound asleep.


	2. Chapter Two

Livvie laid awake in the darkness, listening to the sound of Rafe's steady breathing beside her. She always fell asleep with her mind filled with anxious worries and tonight was no different. She was always worried, scared that Rafe would learn the truth of Ayden's paternity and leave her to find Alison. But now that their son was soon to arrive, Livvie felt secure in thinking that Rafe was definitely hers now. The baby growing inside of her belonged to Rafe and even if Ayden was not part of him, this child was. Rafe wouldn't abandon his son. Livvie remembered the joy in Rafe's eyes when she had told him she was pregnant again and how that elation had only grown the day that they had learned they were to have a boy. She recalled how they had stared at the black and white monitor before them, their fingers intertwined next to Livvie's gel covered abdomen, and how a mixture of emotions had welled up in Rafe's eyes when the doctor made the announcement.

This night, Livvie worried about the pain coursing through her body. She knew that it was too early to go to the hospital, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could lay there in silence. But then, as she contemplated whether or not to wake Rafe, Livvie felt the liquid wetting the mattress beneath her.

"Rafe?"

Her husband made no sound and after waiting another moment, she nudged his ribs. "Rafe?" she said again. His eyes popped open and he stared at her blankly for a second, his mind still groggy with sleep.

"What will it be this time? Root beer or a candy bar?" he asked.

"I think it will be the hospital this time," she replied and he quickly sat straight up in bed.   
"What? Already?"

"My water just broke. We need to hurry," Livvie told him. In response, he rapidly jumped from the mattress and pulled on his clothes in record time. He gathered Livvie's things and made a quick dash to the car. As he walked back through the house, Livvie could hear him speaking into the cordless phone.

"Mrs. Young? I am terribly sorry to call at this hour, but Livvie is in labor and I was hoping you could stay with Ayden," Livvie heard no more of the conversation for she was carried away on a wave of pain. Once the pain had momentarily subsided, Rafe was helping her to the car, passing a haggard Mrs. Young on their way out the door.

* * *

Later in the early hours of the morning, Rafe was banished from the delivery room and forced to wait in an empty waiting area. He had not been informed of his wife's condition, but he had heard a comment between the nurses about the baby been caught. Unable to withstand the isolation, Rafe called Mrs. Young and asked her to bring Ayden to him and soon he was holding his tired daughter in his arms. He was going mad staring at the stark white walls around him with no sound but Ayden's rhythmic breathing to fill his ears. He damned every doctor and nurse in that accursed hospital for not letting him know anything about the well being of Livvie or his son. Suddenly, without knowing why, Rafe approached the pay phone across the room. He dialed a number he was amazed he remembered and listened to the ringing in the receiver. 

"Hello?" a sleepy male voice answered.

"Kevin? This is Rafe," he said.

"Rafe, what's wrong?" Kevin Collins demanded. They had not spoken since Rafe and Livvie left Port Charles and this call was unexpected. Rafe quickly began to pour out the whole story.

"And now the doctor's aren't telling me anything. Every time I ask, all I get are vague answers. I was hoping that maybe you could help me out," Rafe concluded.

There was a long pause but Kevin responded, "Give me about thirty minutes and I'll be right there." With a click, Rafe was alone again. He replaced the phone and walked back to his sleeping child. As he brushed a soft tendril off of her face, Ayden's eyes flickered open.

"Daddy, where's mommy?" she asked in her quiet piping voice.

"Mommy's having your little brother right now," he answered.

"When will I get to see him?" she yawned, her voice becoming sleepy again.

"Soon baby. Real soon," he kissed the top of her head and she drifted off.

A few moments later, another nurse meandered through the waiting room. Rafe quickly looked at her imploringly. "Do you know what's going on with my wife? Her name is Olivia Kovich," he said.

"I'm sorry sir, but I just clocked on a minute ago. I don't have any information," and she breezed out again.

True to his word, Kevin arrived a half-hour later.

"What have you heard?" he inquired.

"Nothing so far. I'm so pissed at every person in this hospital that I could scream," Rafe fumed.

Kevin took a moment to calm his son-in-law down but stopped when he saw Ayden.

"Is that her? Is that Ayden?"

"Yes. That's your granddaughter." Kevin silently strode over to the sleeping child and knelt down in front of her. Kevin's eyes roamed over Ayden's face, mesmerized by her innocent beauty.

"Mr. Kovich?" a voice said from behind. Rafe quickly whirled around and faced the nurse. "Your baby has been delivered, but he hasn't been stabilized yet," she told him and continued. Somehow, she ended up giving him information without telling him a damn thing. When he inquired about Livvie, she only replied, "We're doing everything we can," and retreated out of the waiting area.

Anger surged up in him and before he could stop himself, Rafe let out a yell and hit the closest wall he could find before slumping into one of the cushioned chairs.

"I have a son, but I don't know if he's all right and they won't tell me anything about my wife. I'm going insane here!" he said to Kevin. Kevin did not reply, but sat down next to Rafe, amazed at the tears welling in his son-in-law's eyes.

"You know, I did what you told me to. I gave Livvie my whole heart and I have given her all of the love and stability I can give. I finally realized last night just how happy I was with my life and how much I truly loved my family. So why am I suddenly faced with losing Livvie and our son just as soon as I understand how much I need them? Of all of the things that I faced in Port Charles, the Avatar, the vampires, all of the evil, I have never been scared like I am right now," Rafe spoke quietly. Kevin could not give him an answer but sat quietly by his side. They sat together for an interminable amount of time before another nurse came to retrieve Rafe. Kevin said he would stay with Ayden and Rafe left with the nurse.

Rafe walked behind the woman before coming to an open door. The nurse made a gesture for him to go on in and he complied. Quietly, Rafe entered and sat down on the hard plastic chair next to Livvie's bed and took her hand in his, interlocking their fingers. He leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on her cheek and as he smoothed her raven hair, Livvie's eyes opened wearily.

"Hi sweetie," she greeted him in a raspy voice groggy with drugged sleep. "Where's the baby?" she questioned. Rafe did not know how to answer her inquiry. He did not want to alarm her if there was anything wrong, but he did not want to lie to her and give her false hope.

"Rafe, where's the baby?" she asked again, a panicked note in her voice. Rafe opened his mouth to respond, but a voice from behind replied, "He's right here."

Rafe whirled around to see a nurse carrying a tiny bundle in her arms. "Is he..." Rafe began to ask, but did not know how to phrase the question.

"He's perfectly healthy Mr. Kovich. He gave us a little scare, but he's just fine now," the nurse assured him and deposited the baby into Livvie's arms.

Livvie tenderly caressed the baby's cheek and breathed a small sigh of amazement. "Look what we did," she said and tilted the baby toward Rafe. He stared in awe at the small red thing before him and he looked on in wonder. Just then, the baby began to whimper and fuss. Livvie pulled him closer to her in attempts to comfort the child, but he only grew louder. Rafe held out his arms and Livvie carefully handed the baby to him. Almost immediately, their son quieted down and soon fell asleep again.

"I told you he was going to be daddy's little boy," Livvie told Rafe.

Rafe held his son carefully in his hands. The baby's head just fit inside Rafe's palm, like a doll. Rafe moved the baby into the crook of his arm and then sat down on the bed next to Livvie. Livvie wormed her way under Rafe's arm as she had done so many times before and together they stared at the miracle that they had created.

"What do you think about naming him Colin?" Rafe suggested, "After your father's last name? Colin Michael, maybe?"

"After daddy's last name?" Livvie repeated, "You and my father don't get along. Why would you want to name the baby after him?"

"Your father and I used to not see eye to eye on some things, but I realize that I was wrong. I think it's time that our children have a grandfather. Ayden's probably getting acquainted with him right now,"

"Daddy's here?" she asked, her eyes full of surprise and joyful tears. Livvie really did love her father and she had missed him. The separation could have been easily remedied, but all of them, Rafe, Livvie, and Kevin, were extremely stubborn people.

"Yeah. He's staying with Ayden out in the waiting room," Rafe responded.

"Not anymore. Ayden was begging to see her little brother," Kevin said from the doorway with Ayden in his arms. Ayden wriggled free from his grasp and ran on her sturdy little legs toward the bed. She stood on tiptoe to catch a glimpse of her new sibling and Kevin placed her on the mattress.

"Ayden, this is your little brother Colin," Livvie told her daughter. Ayden peered into the mass of blankets and after staring at the little bundle, she carefully leaned forward and placed a delicate kiss on Colin's head.

"Hi Colin," Ayden said to the baby in Rafe's arms. Livvie pulled Ayden close to her and began to run her fingers through Ayden's soft curls.

"Daddy, come meet your grandson, Colin Michael Kovich," Livvie spoke to her father. Kevin took a step toward the bed and looked at the child held so protectively by Rafe. Gently, Rafe handed Colin to his grandfather.

Rafe Kovich looked at the scene before him, his newborn son in the arms of his loving grandfather and his glowing wife and precious daughter entwined in his arms, and joyous tears sprang up in his eyes. This was not the life he had expected, but life has surprises up its sleeve. Rafe had always thought that he would live happily ever after with Alison and continue his calling as a slayer, but that life had been torn from him when he married Livvie. Now, that rip, that tear, had been mended. Rafe knew that this was his happy ending. His life with Livvie and Ayden and Colin wasn't exactly what he had always dreamed of... it was better.

_A/N: I know, I know. It's totally cheesy and all that jazz, but please be kind when reviewing. I just went with this story and my fingers wrote what my imagination invented. Hope everyone enjoyed. - IrethAnwarunya_


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